This Tommy Thumb Free Easy Piano Music is a perfect little exercise for young piano beginners. The familiar song repeats the verse for each finger in turn, so it’s excellent for finger strengthening.
Tommy Thumb Easy Piano Teaching Notes For Young Beginners
Right Hand:
- This song is great for piano beginners because it’s in C major and has a limited range of notes, so the fingering is simple and the hands don’t need to move much.
- Print the free printable sheet below which has both finger numbers and note names.
- Remember to always practice each hand separately before attempting hands together.
- Sing the first verse of the song together, and then using the chart below the music, sing along with the R.H note names instead of the words (E,F,G etc.)
- Sing this through again with the letter note names, but this time you lightly touch the correct fingering for each note – 1,2,3 as you sing E,F, G in the rhythm of the song. This helps little ones to make the connection between the notes on the page, the correct fingers and the sound that they should make.
- Then find the starting note of E on the keyboard and place the R.H 1,2,3 in position for the first 2 bars ‘Tommy Thumb, Tommy Thumb” E, F, G, – E, F, G
- Work through the rest of the R.H in the same way, bar by bar, but only move on when all the notes and rhythm are correct.
- Notice that the 5 has to stretch up to the C on Where Are You? G – C – G
- Also that on the last How Do You Do? The 2 must step downwards over the 1 to avoid running out of fingers at the end.
Left Hand:
- Tackle the left hand in the same way, but bear in mind that children often find the L.H harder, so don’t rush.
- To prepare, spend plenty of time finding the same notes an octave below middle C until they become more familiar and can recognise them easily.
- Although the left hand doesn’t play the tune, it is still good to sing the note names as they play them bar by bar as this all helps them to make a connection between the fingers – brain & the notes on the page
- If they haven’t played any chords before, prepare with practicing and explaining the chord of C and playing first 2 notes and then 3 notes, and sounding the notes together C -E – G with the 5 – 3 – 1. They often find this tricky at first, but are very pleased with the effect!
For Toddlers:
Tommy Thumb is also a firm favourite with toddlers too as they love singing along with the traditional actions. Finger Plays are packed with educational benefits! So if you want lots more ideas, check out Fun Finger Plays For Toddlers.
But Tommy Thumb is particularly good for to developing the fine motor skills as they learn to isolate each finger in turn. See the video below for the actions.
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